Former governor asks Maraga to nullify Twaha win

Former Lamu Governor Issa Timamy yesterday asked the Supreme Court to nullify his successor Fahim Twaha’s poll victory and order for a fresh exercise.

However, Twaha and Deputy Governor Abdulhakim Aboud argued that the seven-judge Bench had no power to overturn the dismissal of Timamy’s appeal by appellate judges Alnashir Visram, Wanjiru Karanja and Martha Koome on August 9 in Mombasa.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the Returning Officer Adan Ali, supported the preliminary objection raised by Twaha and Aboud.

The Bench, headed by Chief Justice David Maraga, yesterday heard rival submissions but reserved their judgement to a date to be communicated later.

Timamy is aggrieved by appellate judges’ findings that the alleged irregularities unearthered by the partial scrutiny of election results forms were not substantiated because ballot boxes were not opened for the exercise and that he failed to demonstrate that the irregularities substantially affected the outcome of the election.

The Bench had agreed with Malindi High Court Judge Dorah Chepkwony that the poll was conducted in compliance with the Constitution and Electoral Code.

Timamy, in his petition, argues that Aboud, a former IEBC constituency RO for Lamu, influenced the Lamu East and Lamu West deputy Returning Officers to lean towards Twaha’s victory. In the contested poll, Twaha garnered 22,972 votes against Timamy’s 22,420.